U.K.: LONDON COMMUTER TRAIN HIT BY BOMB BLAST MINUTES AFTER HUNDREDS OF RUSH-HOUR PASSENGERS DISEMBARK.

Record ID: 358969

  • Title: U.K.: LONDON COMMUTER TRAIN HIT BY BOMB BLAST MINUTES AFTER HUNDREDS OF RUSH-HOUR PASSENGERS DISEMBARK.
  • Date: 4th March 1976
  • Summary: 1. MV Train passes PAN TO GV stationary train 0.05 2. MV People near police cordon PAN TO damaged carriage 0.16 3. MV PAN Damaged carriage 0.24 4. CU PAN Damaged section of carriage 0.42 5. MV Damaged carriage 0.45 6. MV Police securing cordon 0.48 7. MV ZOOM IN Wrecked carriage 0.53 8. GV AN Ditto 0.58 9. MV P
  • Embargoed: 19th March 1976 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, U.K.
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA8SCMO4NC58XISKPM1IL5NGKUR
  • Story Text: A bomb placed under a seat devastated a commuter train carriage on Thursday morning (4 March) minutes after hundreds of rush-hour passengers had disembarked from it at a London Railway station.

    A spokesman for state-run British Rail said the explosion would have caused a massacre had it occurred a few minutes earlier.

    Police said they believed the 10-pound bomb was planted by Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerrillas. But they were not certain whether it was intended to kill and maim as many people as possible or was deliberately planted on an empty train as a warning.

    Eight people travelling in another train parallel to the empty one suffered shock from the explosion. They were treated at a nearby hospital and discharged.

    The 10-carriage train which was bombed had dropped off its passengers about twelve minutes earlier and was heading for a siding when the bomb exploded.

    The compartment containing the bomb had its sides and roof blown open. There was also heavy damage to adjoining compartments.

    This marked the first successful bomb attack on public transport in London but the ninth in London since the IRA vowed vengeance for the death in an English jail of hunger striker Frank Stagg on 12 February.

    Last monthly, police defused a 20-pound (eight-kilo) bomb left in a case in Oxford Circus station, the busiest on the London Underground.

    SYNOPSIS: A London commuter train was hit by a bomb explosion on Thursday morning minutes after hundreds of rush-hour passengers had disembarked. A spokesman for state-run British Rail said the explosion would have caused a massacre had it occurred 12 to 15 minutes earlier. The compartment containing the bomb had its sides and roof blown open. There was also heavy damage to adjoining compartments. The 10-carriage train had dropped off its passengers about twelve minutes earlier and was heading for a siding when the explosion occurred. Eight people travelling in another train alongside suffered shock from the explosion. They were treated at a nearby hospital and discharged.

    Police said they believed the 10-pound bomb was planted by Irish Republican Army guerrillas. They were not certain whether it was intended to kill and main as many people as possible or was deliberately planted on an empty train as a warning
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